Cable managers are known for routing the wires and cables of electronic equipment, such as telecommunications equipment and computers. These wires and cables include UTP, ScTP, coaxial and fiber optic cables capable of transmitting data, voice, video and/or audio information. Network equipment racks are known to support the electronic equipment and patch panels in a telecommunications system. Cable managers are typically used in association with the equipment racks to receive and route the wires and cables to and from the electronic equipment and patch panels in an organized manner.
Present cable managers are shipped in a fully assembled condition, requiring large packages to be shipped and to be handled upon receipt at an installation. The package including the cable manager includes a substantial volume of empty space between the members forming the cable manager, which increases the shipping cost to transport the volume of empty space.
Additionally, typical cable managers include outwardly projecting fingers adapted to receive and route cables and wires passing between electronic equipment and/or patch panels. In some cable managers, the fingers are fixedly mounted on the cable manager structure, which increases the volume of the cable manager to be shipped, thus increasing shipping costs.
Further, present cable managers are not configured to utilize the cable manager to mount additional EIA-310 standard dimension electronic or other equipment to the cable manager, thus limiting the capacity of the telecommunications system. In typical cable managers, the space between the side panels that support the fingers is underutilized because the cross brace brackets supporting the cable manager are randomly spaced and unable to act as mounting supports for EIA-310 dimensioned equipment.
Also, present cable managers do not define a separate vertical pathway for the small number of fiber cables routed from an enclosure compared to the large number of copper cables routed from the patch field of high density switch applications of a telecommunications system. Separating the paths of the fiber cables and copper cables provides easier handling and feeding of the fiber cables in a path that is not crowded with a large volume of larger copper cables. In addition, the possibility of breaking a fiber cable when manipulating a copper cable or cables in the same path is significantly reduced.
Further, it would be advantageous to provide a cable manager that has an increased capacity to tie down and secure the copper and fiber wires and cables passing through the cable manager. The space between the side panels forming the vertical cable manager is ideally suited to accommodate sufficient strain relief bars to provide tie off locations for the cables and wires.
Also, the electronic equipment that is typically mounted to an equipment rack, such as patch panels and power strips, generate heat, requiring that thermal management for these devices be designed into the cable manager. Proper ventilation ports in the cable manager can assist in allowing air circulation in and out of the cable manager.